SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI is discontinuing Sora, its short-form social video app that went viral last fall for letting users generate AI-created clips and drew scrutiny over deepfakes and nonconsensual imagery.
The company said in a brief social post Tuesday that it is “saying goodbye to the Sora app” and will provide details soon about how users can preserve content they made. “What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing,” OpenAI added.
Launched in September, Sora was an attempt by the ChatGPT maker to enter the short-video arena that drives large audiences and advertising on platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. The app allowed users to generate and share videos from text prompts, a capability that quickly drew both attention and concern.
Advocates, researchers and experts warned that enabling broad, prompt-driven video creation could accelerate the spread of realistic deepfakes, nonconsensual images and a flood of low-quality or misleading AI-generated content. OpenAI introduced restrictions after backlash over depictions of public figures — including Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mister Rogers — appearing in fabricated or outlandish scenarios, a move prompted in part by complaints from family estates and performers’ groups.
Disney, which had partnered with OpenAI to bring its characters to Sora, said Tuesday it respects OpenAI’s decision to exit the video-generation business and redirect its priorities. In a statement, Disney said it appreciated the collaboration with OpenAI, what the companies learned, and that it will keep working with AI platforms to reach fans while protecting intellectual property and creators’ rights.
